The Shires

Updated 26 April 2019

The inspection:

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

The inspection was completed by one inspector.

Service and service type:

The Shires is a care home. People in care homes receive accommodation and personal care. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection:

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is small and we needed to be sure someone would be available to assist us with our inspection.

The inspection site visit activity started on 20 March 2019 and ended on the 20 March 2019.

What we did:

We used information we held about the home which included notifications that they sent us to plan this inspection. We also used the completed Provider Information Return (PIR). This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. However, the provider had completed this ten months previously and we therefore gave opportunities for them to update us throughout the inspection.

We used a range of different methods to help us understand people’s experiences. We spoke with three people who lived at the home about the support they received. As some of the people were out at their chosen activities we also spoke with two relatives.

We had discussions with three staff members that included the director, the service manager and a support worker. We reviewed care plans for two people to check they were accurate and up to date. We also looked at medicines administration records and reviewed systems the provider had in place to ensure the quality of the service was continuously monitored and reviewed to drive improvement. These included accidents and incidents analysis, meetings minutes and quality audits.

Updated 26 April 2019

About the service:

The Shires is one of two locations operated by Independence with Care Ltd. It provides accommodation for up to seven people with learning difficulties, who may require support with personal care.

People’s experience of using this service:

¿ People were protected by staff who understood how to protect them from avoidable harm. The risks to people’s health and wellbeing were assessed and action taken to reduce them. There were enough staff deployed to keep people safe. People’s medicines were well managed and staff understood how to reduce the risk of the spread of infection. There were systems to learn from mistakes including the detailed analysis of accidents and incidents.

¿ Staff received training to enable them to do their jobs well. People were provided with care and support which protected them from discrimination. They were supported to maintain a healthy diet and had access to other health and social care agencies when needed. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. The environment was adapted to meet their needs

¿ There were kind and caring relationships between people and staff which were based on dignity and respect. People felt involved with decisions and felt that staff respected their wishes. Families were welcomed to the service at any time.

¿ People had care and support provided which met their preferences. Complaints were handled appropriately and line with the provider’s complaints policy. People did not currently receive end of life care.

¿ Staff enjoyed working at the service and felt respected and valued. People could give their views about how the service could develop and improve. The provider’s quality assurance processes were effective in identifying potential risks to people’s safety. There was a continued focus on learning, development and improvement.

More information is in Detailed Findings below:

Rating at last inspection: Good (report published 30 July 2016)

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection. At our last inspection we rated the service Good. At this the overall rating for this service remained Good.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor the service through the information we receive until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk